The return of Hazel Levesque
by JupiterGodess
Summary: When Nico went to the underworld to look for his sister Bianca but instead finds someone else. Hazel.


The return of Hazel Levesque

Time. Time ? No. Time had lost all meaning. There was no time. There were just the fields.

Hazel sat beneath her tree and watched other souls condemned to a empty existence on the fields of Asfodel. She knew she should be glad she still had her memory, whereas every other soul in Asfodel couldn't remember one thing, not even the own name. But it also hurt. She always had her happy time with Sammy in front of her eyes. And she knew those days would never return.

As always, a child of Pluto, Lord of the Underworld, was both a curse and a blessing.

To add tot he pain of her happy memories, she also remembered the day she died. The day her world sank into black oil. The day she killed her mother and herself.

A shudder ran down her spine as she once more remembered her conversation with the three judges. Taking into account everything that had happened, Hazel was judged to a eternal life in Elysium, the paradise in which the deceased heroes dwelled, while her mother was sentenced to an eternity in the fields of punishment. Only the girl's intervention kept her mother from that fate. Both were sent to Asfodel.

,Still', she kept telling herself. , Loosing the memory is far better than the eternal torment in the fields of punishment.' And it was true; only those rotten to the core and impossible to ever get to the good side would earn a sentence to those fields. Such was their horror.

Ever since she had come to Asfodel, she had tried to find her mother. She would sit beneath her tree and watch everyone walking by, hoping her mother would be one of them. A few times she even walked though the fields herself, in a vain attempt to stumble across Queen Marie. It was all futile.

How long was she here now ? She had no idea. In Asfodel there were no day, and no night. Time didn't exist, just an empty and endlessly streching existence. Sometimes Hazel wondered why she hadn't gone crazy yet. After all, she didn't share the bliss of lost memories with the other souls. That, plus doing nothing, would be a guaranteed overkill. She wondered if it was because she was to a small degree detatched from the memories. They still hurt, yes, but at the same time it was as if Hazel would stand beneath herself and watch things happen to the „other" Hazel. She however had made peace with the idea that she might never find an answer to that question.

Sudenly, a shadow fell over her. Slowly she looked up. Her thoughts were flowing as slow as honey, and they seemed to have an eternity before any command to move reached her body. At a corner of her mind, she realised that this was what the long time in Asfodel had done to her.

It was a boy. Slender, pale, with black hair and a sword of black iron at his side. For some reason – probably a Pluto thing again – she knew that it was Stygian iron, deadly not only monsters and immortals, but mortals as well.

But above all, he was alive.

It took a moment for that realisation to sink in. When it did, she gasped and stared at him in disbelief. The boy just looked calmly at her. After a moment, he spoke.

„You are different from the rest." A pause. „ You are a child of Pluto, just like me. "

„Who… who are you?", asked Hazel in a voice raspy from not being used so long.

„My name is Nico DiAngelo. I did come here to… find my sister, Bianca. She died on a quest. But instead I learn she has chosen to be reborn, and I find a half-sister of mine."

He fell silent again. Hazel felt bad for him, for she clearly had heard the bitterness in his voice. She wondered what would come next.

Nico took a deep breath, then stretched out his hand. „Come. You may not be Bianca, but you too deserve a second chance. You too are a sister of mine. Come with me. I can bring you back to the world of the living. "

Hazel again could do nothing but stare at him, in even greater disbelief than before. „You… you mean that?"

„Yes." He gave a short nod. „The doors of death are open. Now is your only chance to return to life. "

She hesitated. „My mother…"

This time, Nico shook his head. „It will be impossible even for me to find her. Maybe she even chose to be reborn. I don't know. Besides, what good would it do her without memories? The effect of Lethe won't cease once she's back to life. No, just you can come with me."

Again Hazel hesitated for a second. Then she grabbed his hand and he helped her up. A new determination had grown in her heart. She had all the pictures in her mind of those nights on the island, and of her and her mother's death. Now she had been granted the incredibly valuable gift of a second chance. And she would use it to make things right.

Nico gave her a sidewards glance, then started walking across the fields of Asfodel. Hazel followed him, wondering where he might lead her. Suddenly, he spoke again.

„When where you born?"

This question startled her. „Uh… 1928. Why?"

„Then I need warn you. A… lot of time has passed. Frankly, seventy years. Things will be different than from what you remember. I hope you will not be too shocked."

Hazel almost couldn't believe her ears. Seventy years had passed? So much time… indeed, things will be different. Then, a sting of pain ran through her heart. Sammy… even if he still was alive, he would be very old and wouldn't have too much time left.

With an effort, she pushed these thoughts aside. She needed to concentrate on what lay ahead of her. „Where are you going to take me, once we're back in the living world?"

„Well… where to begin? You know that you are a demigod, do you?"

Hazel nodded.

„There is a camp, Camp Jupiter. It is a place where demigods can live without constantly being attacked by monsters. Plus, we get trained there. The twelfth roman legion resides in Camp Jupiter, they are the warriors who do quests and protect the camp in case of an attack. Every new arrival joins the legion and has to do service for ten years. Afterwards, it is one's own choice wether one wants to stay or leave the legion. "

„That doesn't sound too bad. ".

„No. It doesn't."

It took Hazel a few seconds to realise the miniature hesitation before Nico had replied. Instantly, she had an odd feeling about it. Something felt wrong with it. As if Nico didn't mean what he had said. As if he knew something. But she didn't want to bother him with asking about it. After all, he was taking out of the Underworld. And he was her brother, after all. She couldn't wait to sit down with him in a nice, comfy place and chat, getting to know him.

They had reached the borders of the fields of Asfodel. Nico looked at her and asked: „Are you ready?"

She inhaled deeply and said: „Yes."

Her half-brother walked on. Hazel followed him.

Back to life.


End file.
